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For most Notre Dame seniors, the final year on campus is a race to check off a bucket list. For Leah Kern, a senior RA in Farley Hall, part of that bucket list is heavily focused on one thing: late-night dorm food. Realizing the clock was ticking on her goal to try every dorm restaurant on campus, Leah turned her solo culinary marathon into a shared experience, reasoning, “I'm gonna do it anyway, like, I might as well invite everyone and do it in community.” She extended the invitation to the Farley Hall GroupMe, and the community enthusiastically showed up. What started as a personal goal has turned into a rotating entourage of 12 to 20 Farley residents tramping across campus on weekday nights through snowstorms and midterm season to sample the best, and worst, of ND's late-night bites. It is a good reminder to get out of the library and explore all our campus has to offer behind parietal-controlled doors.

This isn't just a casual snacking tour; it is a rigorously graded operation. After each visit, Kern sends out a Google Form where her fellow food critics rank the establishment on a strict five-point scale. The criteria cover the quality of the food, the price, the friendliness of the hospitality and the overall experience. However, the most fiercely debated metric is always the wait time.

“There's a lot that goes into it, a lot more than just the food itself,” Kern noted. "People really care about the wait times. People get upset if they have to wait more than a couple of minutes.”

According to Kern, “No sweet treat kitchen has ever done it like [Farley’s] Cafe Far Far. Never going to beat that!” Some of the highest marks went to KeoKitch. The legendary burgers and milkshakes at KeoKitch were so incredible that they shocked the former vegetarian and now “choose-atarian” Leah Kern. Some other favorites were Griffadillas with their quesadillas and the new JFam buffalo chicken dip. As far as the worst dorm kitchens go, the Farley crew was not impressed with O'Neill's long wait time for reheated frozen pizza or Flaherty's FroNana, which is “no Cafe Far Far.”

Yet, as the weeks have gone by, the true value of the crawl has been revealed. One of the most memorable visits was a crawl to JFam and Dunne. With long wait times in Dunne, the Farley gang ended up “hanging out and playing ping-pong and pool,” and enjoying funny interactions with passersby. They eventually met Sergio, the lone student worker manning the kitchen. “He worked alone down there, that's why it took so long,” Kern said. “I felt bad that he was down in the basement all alone making these pizzas, but it definitely adds to the experience to get to know the kitchen workers.” Shout out, Sergio, for your hard work and even better pizza!

With just six dorm kitchens left to conquer before graduation, Kern’s Dorm Food Crawl has become about much more than crossing items off a senior bucket list. It serves as a sweet reminder that college moves incredibly fast, often much faster than a homemade pizza baking in Dunne's basement oven. It can be all too easy to stay comfortable inside your own hall, buried in assignments or the routine of the semester. However, Kern’s quest demonstrates the magic of intentionally getting out of your dorm to explore. Whether it's trudging through a sudden blizzard, playing a spontaneous game of pool or simply sitting on a mismatched lounge couch in O’Neill waiting for an order with 20 Farley friends, these are the nights that culminate in the real Notre Dame experience.

“I've gained little moments with people,” Kern reflected. “Just one-on-one time, then also silly, goofy time in the middle of your week that I feel like sometimes you don't get.”

Ultimately, what started as a simple message in the Farley GroupMe to explore dorm kitchens became a shared core memory for everyone involved and an unforgettable experience that proves the best community building happens when we step outside and explore together.